Well, I guess this is the end for now.

In two chapters you made me go from suddenly resenting Yumi and then back to pitying her.

Also cool to see Kenichi begin his academic tutelage.

Didn't really know what to expect with EnishiXSae. One thing that was a missed opportunity I feel is explaining how Enishi can tell the two sisters apart. Would have been an interesting gimmick to define the relationship, even if it was still destined to fail.

Tokyo arc? Guess we're having a timeskip?

Well, if you ever update, I'll be sure to keep my eyes peeled. Have a good one!

wow, this is really good and fun so far to read.

Oh my god. Thank u so much, for making tomoe and kenshin have their baby. Not long ago, i watched the live action of rurorin kenshin the beginning. It’s really made me broken heart to see tomoe die, be reminding of her death. I really love her to be with kenshin than kaoru.

As always entertaining to see the Japanese History the series skipped out on.

Was a bit uncomfortable with what Yumi was doing there, especially after telling Tomoe herself she would not make a move on him (or am I misrembering?)

See you next chapter!

As always nice to learn more of Japanese History from you!

I also liked how Hiko, for all of his aversion to the changes from the Meji era, is ironically embracing a lot of changes himself, with how he's changing Hiten Mitsurugi alongside Kenshin.

That was a pretty cool scene with the two Hikos. The previous one seems to be a generally more jovial character, his problem being his student's negativity and seems to genuinely try to pull him out of it.
The current Hiko just calls Kenshin an idiot.
It's pretty interesting in your story, it takes Hiko 3 days to wake up and will take another month to just stand, whereas in canon after taking the AnRH, he just needs a day and he's good to go. I guess in that story there just wasn't enough time to have a normal length recovery.
I also do understand Kenshin's POV on the matter; yeah, he didn't kill Hiko, but by all means it could have happened easily and he's not yet convinced he has buried his killer instinct. I'd be mad to if I was forced to do that to someone I cared about.
Guess I have to see how Master and Master(?) patch things up.

I really enjoy this story. I like the characters, I like the narrative, I like the prose. I like just about everything about it. It’s really interesting to see the characters grow and evolve in their own ways rather than everything seeming to be a mad dash towards their established cannon selves.

My only issue is why would Tomoe not consider using the pull her husband has with the new government to aid perhaps her closest female friend? I get that Kenshin would probably not even consider it. The guy doesn’t really think he has ever done anything that should really be honored or rewarded, he also isn’t really someone with much experience in seeing the benefits in his connections. Tomoe though? She should have no problem seeing the power inherent in Kenshin’s metaphorical Rolodex. Were Tomoe and Kenshin not so close with Yumi I could totally see it just being a part of the background narrative, but outside of their little family unit I’d say Yumi is probably the closest friend the two of them share.

I think this is the first time I've read Kenshin landing a genuine hit on Hiko (hitting the bracers doesn't count IMO)

Seems like Kenshin is now learning the Ougi, but I'm imagining with the previous set up, it's going to go a wee bit different in canon...

Maybe he fails but because of Hiko's Sakabato will get another shot?

Guess I'll just have to find out

Hiko-style PTSD therapy...perhaps not the best method in general, but probably what Kenshin needs.

Interesting mentioning Doryusen as a feint. In the manga, it's only used once. The original anime used it multiple times, and made it like the windscar with Kenshin using it to blow away behemoths like Gohei and Raijuta away.
And in the new anime they seemed to have removed it entirely.
I guess because most of Hiten Mitsurugi has some good physics behind it, the staff realized DR was an outlier. You can't really get Earth to move like that without your sword breaking, and you're probably better off just picking up a rock and throwing it.

Just wanted to say confirmed my thoughts on this version of Hiko in regards to his relationship to Kenshin and how his trauma may have affected him.
Also interesting interaction between Hiko and Seiku. Seiku, though stubbornly pacifist, was a nice guy in canon, so seeing him hold a grudge is pretty unexpected, but still does fit in with his character.
I wonder if Hiko's Sakabato was supposed to be the principal forge from the original?
Would also like to see Hiko confront his parents. I imagine reconciliation is impossible, but maybe closure on his part might do him good.
See you next chapter

Long but great focused Hiko chapter. Obviously none of this is canon but had Watsuki jumped on this sooner (before the truth came out) it would fit perfectly.
Oddly enough, Hiko's reaction to his brother choosing to remain a Monk is kind of similar to Enishi's reaction to Tomoe choosing to stay with Kenshin (in canon). Though I can certainly understand Hiko's reaction and while he's rather stubborn about it it's nice to see Hiko have a family member who he truly cares for and even says enjoys the company of (in his way)
Also cool to see a deep dive into his relationship with his Master. One thing I've noticed is that the previous Hiko seems to come off as more jovial than the current one. Feels more like a real father son relationship. Makes me wonder if Hiko 13 is often so callous to Kenshin because he didn't want him to develop that kind of relationship with him so the succession wouldn't haunt Kenshin as much as it haunts him (Spoiler Hiko: It totally WOULD).
I have a fun head canon about how this style even came up with this succession, where the first Hiko went insane and the only way his pupil could stop him was through the creation of the original, and taking on the name to protect the honor of the original. Just a fun thought of mine.
See you next chapter!

Not much happening, but still a good couple of chapters to see Kenshin and Tomoe being lovey dovey
A very rare thing to see Tomoe herself being happy on the outside as well.
The backstory for Yumi may not necessarily be canon, but it makes perfect sense for her. Tomoe's concern for her is endearing.
I recall hearing that due to Hideyoshi establishing samurai as a class and cutting off most contact with the outside world, he held Japan back technologically for 200 years. Don't know if that's accurate, but when Meji began they modernized in a hurry.
I also remember reading Musashi's Book of Five Rings, where he said he hated merchants but considered them necessary, saying "Someone has to pay for the war".
And while I don't agree with having a class system, with the way billionaires are crashing out there should be at least some social price for them to pay for being obscenely wealthy.
See you next chapter!

A deep philosophical chapter, which I actually quite enjoy

I'd have very much like to go into Hiko's on psyche on the inheritance of HM, and this chapter did quench that a bit.

I also have to wonder what kind of man SH 12 was to train a monster like #13. The original anime showed a little bit in the Shimabara filler, but it was like the current Hiko with gray hair, so I wouldn't hold it high as canon.

The rule of two was a thing for the Sith, but Disney seems to be playing with it rather loosely. That's all I'll say on the matter.
In HM's defense though, I think the reason there can only ever be one Master is BECAUSE HM is too powerful to have more than one know it, to prevent corruption if it is handed to the wrong person, and also teach the initiate how precious life is by discovering their own will to live and carry the guilt of killing their Master so they don't abuse their teachings. At least that's my head canon.
With Sith the master seems to manipulate the apprentice under their thumb to use as a pawn not quite on their level and it's not until the pupil kills the master out of conniving feelings so they become the master (Darth Plagus)
Just glad that Hiko is working on changing things and also making some progress on the matter.

While nothing much plot-wise happened here, it was nonetheless a fun read.
It kind of blew my mind here to learn here that beef or maybe even red meat in general was not a big thing in Japan until very recently, since cattle did exist in Japan.
But now that I think about it, given that Buddhism originated in India where eating cows is a big no-no, it does make sense. Also I do know most Asian cultures were not big on dairy,.the one exception I can think of being the Mongols, but the Ryan George skits did make me question "What kind of adult thought of getting milk from another animal?"
I'm guessing back then cattle were mainly labor animals to plow the fields.
Seems the fact that the current Hiko doesn't like talking about his predecessor much is going to become a big plot point in the future. I guess we'll see.
Another interesting thing I learned a while back about Asian immigration to the West in this time period is that many like China immigrated for work and labor and were generally quite poor, but Japan sent a lot of their upper class and educated not only to learn from the West but also put fourth good representation of their country.
Looking forward to reading more as always!

This was a very interesting chapter! And as usual thank you for the Japanese History Lesson (some I knew, some I didn't).

Hiko's boots were something I've overlooked just cause I wasn't paying attention, but I enjoyed how you gave an explanation for how he got them.

It's interesting that Hiko is trying his hands at Shibori instead of pottery in this story. I assumed pottery was always a talent of Hiko and even previous HM masters and was how they made what little money they could, but apparently the current remake lists him as an amateur potter breaking into the business.

It's quite different from most fanon here that Hiko doesn't like sex; while Hiko was never a Roshi or Jiraiya, most fics I'm aware of portray him as being able to get any woman he wants/visit brothels on occasion, so this is unusual that it does nothing for him here (difference between being asexual and anti-social).

And while I don't think Hiko would be a raging homophobe, I do find it hilarious in this fic he did try both genders. So if he made an off hand comment about that kind of sex being gross and someone asked "Personal experience talking?", he can answer "Yes"
Looking forward to next chapter